Why do people love their lawns, or or keep them in spite of their high maintenance, expense and monotanous appearance. In his book, At Home with Nature, author, architect, and TV personality, John Gidding, takes a look at suburbianites’ love of lawns and proposes a new approach that he calls sylvan landscaping. It excludes the use of turf grass, uses only native plants, and emphasizes trees yet still conforms to the codes and regulations that tend to favor well manicured lawns.
After discussing the problems with grass lawns, Gidding begins his guide to sylvan landscaping by describing the unique environmental features of a subregion and adjacent city in the six major regions of the US suggested by geography and climate: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Gulf Coast, West, and Northwest. This is followed by discussions about property maintenance codes, basic botany, zoology, mycology, and ecology, the principles of landscape design, and the unique characteristics of sylvan design.
The culmination of Gidding’s work is the large section presenting six fully landscaped properties, one from each of the major regions already described. Each property has a different configuration but all respect the essence of sylvan landscaping. Readers are invited to complete the design using native plants suggested in the accompanying text. In this way, homeowners in various parts of the country can tailor the landscape to their own needs and wants, and develop their own relationship with their environment. Illustrated yard renderings, photographs, and plants lists enhance the text.
The concept of sylvan landscaping is very appealing from an aesthetic and ecolological point of view but having gardened in New York, North Carolina, Wyoming, and Southern California I wonder if all the trees in the plans are suitable and sustainable in all areas of the country. That being said, At Home with Nature brings up many good points, presents excellent suggestions, and is a very good read.
To buy At Home with Nature from Amazon, click here.